Can you cook?

[GaiPhillyBoy]

I must admit, I don't do too much cooking. If I am in the right mood, I can do spaghetti with pre-made meatballs with sauce, usually a Prego or Ragu with plenty of meat. I also do a pretty good crock pot thing that I credit Marie Calendar with! Usually a good beef stew. I also can do outdoor grilling. I am told that my sirloin steaks and burgers are to die for. I can thank my Dad for teaching me the art of grilling. Other than that, I usually eat out, or order in.

[TwisttheLeaf]

I can cook, and from what everyone tells me (as well as my own tastebuds) I'm very good at it.

That said? I hate it. HATE IT! God I hate cooking. I do it because I like eating good food. I do it because I have to consume over 6000 calories a day to keep my weight from dropping like an avalanche. I do it because with my metabolism, there is no way in HELL to live off take out and eating out unless you make -way- more money than I do.

It's a necessity. It just happens to be one I'm good at, regardless of how I feel about it.

[LJay]

Here you go, Darius:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mini-Minimalis...0307985555

A cute little set of cookbooks well worth investing in. Good, straightforward recipes and lots of suggestions to match them up with other things in the series to make good meals. He even has wine pairings if you like to get fancy for company. Very good for learning. Tasty, clean meals.

Bittman's How to Cook Everything is an encyclopedic tome that will keep you entertained on long, lonely winter nights.

[CellarDweller]

I can cook when I have to. LOL.....nothing by memory, but I can follow a recipe.

[Anocxu]

Surprisingly I am a very good cook..
I went through an awful phase treating kitchens as if they were laboratories. . a terrible period of experimental cooking..
Then that rule..
Follow before you can lead dominated..
Then learning cooking is really chemistry..

So I can cook and bake quite well now after those hard lessons.



I love making desserts..
(Especially Cheesecakes)



Soups... ( above , French Onion)



I love barbecuing and cooking chicken dishes..
(Above.. Honey Garlic Chicken )

Pics are not mine..
Just there to taunt y'all..
[emoji14]

[Stevefs]

I personally love to cook. It's usually a lot cheaper than going to a restaurant.... except for baking. I started out by following recipes EXACTLY, and then gradually moving on to being able to improvise and make up my own culinary inventions.

[Anocxu]

I personally love to cook. It's usually a lot cheaper than going to a restaurant.... except for baking. I started out by following recipes EXACTLY, and then gradually moving on to being able to improvise and make up my own culinary inventions.

If I posted pics of some of my culinary catastrophes years ago..
You would probably block me lol

Have you advanced to 'culinary rules' as yet.. as in substituting, balancing and timing?

Example
1 teaspoon baking powder for 1 cup flour.. minimum

2 eggs for every cup of flour.. minimum etc.

Evaporated milk instead of whole milk... and so on..

After years of watching me struggle in the kitchen. .
My mom basically told me..
I was ignoring all the basic rules..

I was like..
What rules?
Lol

[Stevefs]

If I posted pics of some of my culinary catastrophes years ago..
You would probably block me lol

Have you advanced to 'culinary rules' as yet.. as in substituting, balancing and timing?

Example
1 teaspoon baking powder for 1 cup flour.. minimum

2 eggs for every cup of flour.. minimum etc.

Evaporated milk instead of whole milk... and so on..

After years of watching me struggle in the kitchen. .
My mom basically told me..
I was ignoring all the basic rules..

I was like..
What rules?
Lol

Haha! That's what cooking is about, though. Balancing creativity with edibility and taste. I've done substitutions before, but never when it comes to flour since I don't bake. I never knew there were such baking rules out there. Hah. Interesting.

[VirgoMasquerade]

When i was just a younger gay boy i wanted to be a chef... But now not so much.... But i know how to cook the basic meals. Not sure if i'll be the best cook but living with a mom that puts out a full spread for thanksgiving every year does help

[Anocxu]

Haha! That's what cooking is about, though. Balancing creativity with edibility and taste. I've done substitutions before, but never when it comes to flour since I don't bake. I never knew there were such baking rules out there. Hah. Interesting.

The rules go on and on and on..
So many of them.. you would be surprised. .
Let me see if I can dig up my collection. .
Give me a second...